Military vehicles, such as the High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled vehicle, commonly referred to as the HMMWV or simply as the Humvee, are utilized by military personnel as cargo and troop carriers, ambulances, and as weapon platforms. An exemplary Humvee 20 is shown in FIG. 7. The Humvee 20 is a four wheel drive vehicle capable of traversing roadways, muddy wetlands, snow-covered regions, jungle zones, sandy desserts, and other types of terrain.
The exemplary Humvee 20 includes a roof-mounted weapon system 24, which includes a turret-mounted machine gun 28. A turret gunner operates the machine gun 28, and any other roof mounted equipment, through a turret opening 32 in a roof portion 36 of the vehicle 20. Some embodiments of the turret-mounted machine gun 28 enable the turret gunner to rotate the machine gun 360° relative to the Humvee 20. Additionally, the machine gun 28 may be pivoted about a horizontal axis, thereby giving the turret gunner the ability to aim the machine gun at both ground and air-based targets positioned on any side of the vehicle 20.
Even though the machine gun 28 is removable from the weapon system 24, the machine gun frequently remains in the roof-mounted position for an extended time period, such that the machine gun is ready for use with little advanced notice. Accordingly, the weapon system 24, and any other roof-mounted equipment, are exposed to potentially damaging environmental elements. For example, in a sandy desert environment dust storms are frequent, and have the potential to affect the weapon system 24 and the other roof-mounted equipment. Similarly, rain, snow, and other environment elements may also affect the weapon system 24.
It is known to provide a cover for roof-mounted equipment on a vehicle; however, known cover systems are generally not suitable for military applications and other applications, which require fast access to the roof-mounted equipment. For example, known cover systems are time consuming and cumbersome to attach to the vehicle, often requiring the use of hand tools. Additionally, after being deployed over the roof-mounted equipment, known cover systems are time consuming to retract. Furthermore, known cover systems often require users to modify the vehicle to which the cover system is to be attached, by permanently connecting brackets or other members to the vehicle. These modifications may not be permitted in some applications, such as military applications. Accordingly, further developments in the area of cover systems for roof-mounted equipment are desirable.